While NBC’s Today isn’t one of the many shows ending in 2024, Hoda Kotb shocked audiences around the country upon revealing that her time as a morning TV co-host is ending as the year closes out. Viewers are no doubt eager to learn who will take her place after she’s gone, but have another surprising bit of news to react to in the meantime, as it’s been reported that Kotb’s big announcement upended one of her colleagues’ alleged plan to reveal their own exit.
Had the Dateline NBC vet not gone public with her decision to vacate her Today spot, Hoda Kotb might have been the one anticipating a new(ish) addition to the stage, as some network staffers were of the belief that Savannah Guthrie was setting up her own exit plan. And now that one mainstay host is leaving, NBC is allegedly holding onto Guthrie for dear life, so to speak.
Having replaced Ann Curry back in 2012, Guthrie has been a beloved part of the show ever since, but Page Six reports that the latest behind-the-scenes talks pointed to the Australian-born anchor gearing up and strategizing for an eventual departure following all the coverage coming for the Presidential election. But Kotb’s big reveal is said to have put a major damper on those goals.
According to one source, the powers that be recognize the value of having a multi-talent like Savannah Guthrie, and would love to keep her around forever. In their words:
Of course, nobody at NBC wants Savannah to leave. I think if the bosses had their way she would be here for life. She is the beating heart of Today — there is so much support for her. There are so few people who can go from dressing as a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader for Halloween to interviewing the president to covering a major breaking news story.
Speaking to the journalist’s ability to quickly shift gears and go with the flow, Guthrie reportedly followed up Kotb’s announcement in the most supportive way possible. As one staffer put it, she kept everyone else’s spirits high. In their words:
We had a staff meeting right after the announcement. Hoda spoke, and the bosses, and then Savannah spoke, and it was beautiful. [Guthrie] gave the Today team the care they really needed in that moment.
One of the early signs that tipped staffers off to Savannah Guthrie’s alleged goal of leaving Today was the February publication of her book Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding, which landed on the New York Times bestseller list. Combined with past comments about “not wanting to overstay her welcome” on the NBC series, the book had some believing she was plotting out a life beyond the series.
For now, though, it looks like Guthrie will remain in place for the remainder of the 2024 TV schedule alongside Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, and that she’ll continue holding down the fort once Kotb has left the building. (Or at least that particular studio, since Kotb will maintain some kind of position under the NBC News umbrella.) Guthrie does have a year left on her Today Show contract, so perhaps more changes will take place once that time frame has passed.
Also, for what it's worth, while Hoda Kotb's exit was reportedly tied to pay cuts, with claims that both she and Guthrie earn more than $20 million annually, Page Six's sources say those numbers are highly inflated, and that the actual number is somewhere around $8 million per year.